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14:30

John Tebenham is now showing Castrol sponsorship on The Entertainer Competition Eliminator Ford Probe (left).

Also in Super Pro ET and making his first competition appearance of the season is John Atkinson. The first run proved problematic. "We set the gap on the clutch too tight and when I went on the two-step, it rolled the lights and I pulled a red light and then missed my shift points." John was testing before Easter but suffered a broken roller lifter and was out for the Thunderball. Eurodragster.com home and news sponsors I.C.E. Automotive did the rebuild. John, whose personal best is an 8.20 in the stock-looking '69 Mustang Fastback, said "I'm trying to get into the sevens - I like to suprise people who think I run nines."

The Gleadow brothers Adam and Martin have had problems with their heads sealing on the injected methanol-burning Big Block Chevy in the Time Machine altered. Adam said "One cylinder was blowing oil out and we stripped the thead putting the head on the block." The team plan to contest the season and Hot Rod Drags and Nostalgia Nationals. "The engine was run by Doug Ripley before he had the funny car and was then run by Laurie Craig. The car's body was run by Clive Mechaell as the California Kid Fuel Altered."

Mark Bishop's Vegas Hustler Topolino altered was a victim of a severe shake of front wheel wobble and sat out the second session of Pro ET as a consequence (right).

Driver of the Eurodragster.com features sponsor John Woolfe Racing Cortina Steve Green ran in the 8.7-8.8 range without nitrous this morning. "It's slower than I wanted", he said, "and we're a little lost with the clutch settings and need to tighten it up. We will have a datalogger at the Summer Nationals and this will assist us in using the nitrous."

Steve recently made a 1400 mile round trip to Germany to transport Dennis Priddle's slingshot Mr Six back to the UK, where it will be restored to its former glory.

The Honky Tonkin' Chevy 210 sedan is being driven by Jerry Denning in Pro ET and Lee Pike in Super Pro ET. The car has stepped up to 9.1s with the help of transmission changes. A new converter was acquired from Geof Hauser and Zane Llewellyn fitted a new clutch. The blown 461cu in motor was built by Kenny Coleman.

13:00

Dennis Habermann's dragster is running in Competition Eliminator this meeting (left).

Good afternoon and welcome to the Pit Notes from day one of the 2007 Main Event. The morning started sunny but we have had light drizzle which should clear up very soon.

After the first two rounds of Pro ET qualifying, the man in the no.1 spot after the second session is Dave James in his beautiful black Chevelle, which was built by Chris Isaacs. "I first ran it at the Hot Rod Drags last year", he said, "and my main need in the car is to get as much seat time as possible, so we are running RWYBs as well as championship meetings." The car is using a transmission supplied by Eurodragster.com Swap Meet sponsor Jeff Bull, and has a Reher-Morrison engine of 555 cu in and a single Holley Dominator carb running without nitrous on C-14 fuel. Thanks go to crew members Mark and Kirk. Dave is by trade a builder and resides in Colchester.

Super Pro ET runner Pat Talbot ran a high seven without nitrous on her first run. Crew chief Stephen Talbot said "We normally do our first run without nitrous as a checkout pass and this was fine", said Stephen."We will aim for a low seven next time out." This was duly accomplished with a 7.09.

In the largest-ever field of Super Pro ET cars (40 cars entered), no. 1 qualifier after the first session was Chris Orthodoxou in his Dodge Viper. "The run was a little squirelly mid track but it still ran right on the numbers", said Chris. "I installed a newly built Ray Barton Hemi engine during the winter. It is 604 cu in and has been dynoed at 1100 hp and 925 lb of torque. The previous engine had stood for the best part of two years before it ran and it needed new shells and piston rings. My best last year was 7.87 but this weekend I am running it with the engine management chips turned down to help consistency."